Krill predator studies and CCAMLR monitoring at Bouvetøya
This project forms the basis for the Norwegian contribution to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) under its Environmental Monitoring Program (CEMP). CCAMLR manages the krill fishery in the Southern Ocean, of which Norway is the largest of the fishing nations. The Norwegian policy directive for input into CCAMLR and the science-based management philosophy is highlighted in the recent Government White Paper (Stortingmelding) directed at Bouvetøya, which underscores the importance of maintaining and enhancing monitoring programs that relate to it.
This project will characterise the foraging and reproductive ecology of a guild of krill-dependent marine predators at the remote subantarctic island of Bouvetøya in the South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Bouvetøya has been an official CEMP site for over 20 years, and given the extreme remoteness and logistical effort required to conduct research and monitoring at this location, each expedition has a diverse science program to fulfil. The area of Bouvetøya on which fieldwork is conducted (Nyrøysa) faces into the prevailing weather of the Southern Ocean. Given the small landmass size of the Nyrøysa platform (approximately 300m by 1.5km) and the dense populations of seals and seabirds (over 60,000 Antarctic fur seals breed on the platform), conducting fieldwork is exceptionally challenging and dangerous.
Specifically, this project will involve:
1. Electronically following the at-sea movements of adult members of the predator guild (Antarctic fur seals N=250, southern elephant seals N=30, macaroni penguins N=150, chinstrap penguins N=100, Antarctic fulmars N=20, Cape petrels N=20, Antarctic skuas N=20), to determine foraging habitat preferences and niche overlap between predator species.
2. Tagging Antarctic fur seal pups (N=5,000 or ~ 33% of total production) to produce a marked population against which Capture-Mark- Recapture (CMR) experiments can be performed to assess population trends and abundances, and to collect longitudinal data on known individuals in subsequent research visits
3. Collecting dietary samples from adults of each predator species to fully characterise intra- and inter- specific
dietary reliance on krill over time.
Addressing the demands for replacement, reduction and refinement:
Replacement - The primary goal of the study is to characterise the foraging and reproductive ecology of specific predators at Bouvetøya - therefore, it is impossible to replace these study species with substitute or non-model species.
Reduction - Given the population sizes of each species on the island, we would prefer to have larger sample sizes than those outlined in this application however financial and logistical constraints prevent this.
Refinement - The approaches that are used have been consistently refined by the scientific community over decades (see the attached relevant published literature), for example telemetry instruments have decreased in size by over 50% since the 2007-2008 expedition to the island.
This project will characterise the foraging and reproductive ecology of a guild of krill-dependent marine predators at the remote subantarctic island of Bouvetøya in the South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Bouvetøya has been an official CEMP site for over 20 years, and given the extreme remoteness and logistical effort required to conduct research and monitoring at this location, each expedition has a diverse science program to fulfil. The area of Bouvetøya on which fieldwork is conducted (Nyrøysa) faces into the prevailing weather of the Southern Ocean. Given the small landmass size of the Nyrøysa platform (approximately 300m by 1.5km) and the dense populations of seals and seabirds (over 60,000 Antarctic fur seals breed on the platform), conducting fieldwork is exceptionally challenging and dangerous.
Specifically, this project will involve:
1. Electronically following the at-sea movements of adult members of the predator guild (Antarctic fur seals N=250, southern elephant seals N=30, macaroni penguins N=150, chinstrap penguins N=100, Antarctic fulmars N=20, Cape petrels N=20, Antarctic skuas N=20), to determine foraging habitat preferences and niche overlap between predator species.
2. Tagging Antarctic fur seal pups (N=5,000 or ~ 33% of total production) to produce a marked population against which Capture-Mark- Recapture (CMR) experiments can be performed to assess population trends and abundances, and to collect longitudinal data on known individuals in subsequent research visits
3. Collecting dietary samples from adults of each predator species to fully characterise intra- and inter- specific
dietary reliance on krill over time.
Addressing the demands for replacement, reduction and refinement:
Replacement - The primary goal of the study is to characterise the foraging and reproductive ecology of specific predators at Bouvetøya - therefore, it is impossible to replace these study species with substitute or non-model species.
Reduction - Given the population sizes of each species on the island, we would prefer to have larger sample sizes than those outlined in this application however financial and logistical constraints prevent this.
Refinement - The approaches that are used have been consistently refined by the scientific community over decades (see the attached relevant published literature), for example telemetry instruments have decreased in size by over 50% since the 2007-2008 expedition to the island.